Europe’s VW said in a statement that Capito would replace Kris Nissen as head of motorsport from May 1.

A statement from Ford said: “We’d like to thank Jost Capito for his contribution at Ford for performance vehicles and motorsport. We wish him well in the next chapter of his career”.

Capito, who has a degree in engineering, started his professional career in 1984 as a development engineer for high-performance engines at BMW. After four years he moved to Porsche, eventually heading up the German firm’s motorsport division, and then nipped over to Sauber, where he ended up in charge of the team’s F1 operations.

Capito joined Ford in the United States in 2001 and was responsible for their global performance vehicle business and motorsport strategy.

Capito’s move to VW is not expected to have a direct impact on Ford’s worldwide motorsport commitment, with Gerard Quinn and Jamie Allison working as motorsport directors in Europe and North America respectively.

His recruitment comes as VW gears up to enter the WRC full-time with the new Polo WRC in 2013.